Finally, the last day of travel-blah blah blah

I'm really tired of posting about our trip...but I must finish the last day of 'scenery' for posterity's sake. I've been racking my brain for anything else I've done to humiliate myself in the past. Seems self-humiliation is a big draw to blog fans and I must keep up my readership! Don't worry, I humiliate myself quite regularly, so I'm sure to have something juicy, very soon!

But back to our trip....

On Tuesday night, we made it to Amarillo, TX as planned. We got there kind of late and we were alllllll tired and grumpy. We needed a good night's sleep! This would be our last hotel stay since we planned to drive all night Wednesday night to arrive in Tally-town early Thursday morning.

Our plan for Wednesday morning was to get up before daylight. After having breakfast at the hotel, we wanted to go about 30 miles east near Groom, TX to see the big Cross I had heard about and seen pictures of via e-mail. My dh and dd weren't nearly as excited as me because they hadn't seen the pictures...they were in for a treat!

The sunrise this morning was beautiful. Plenty of time for contemplating what we were going to see. I'm still not a 'sunrise' person...but I'm beginning to like seeing God's beautiful handiwork each morning. (Little did we know that we would be in the middle of a huge storm within the next 1/2 hour!)

In this picture you can see the cross in the distance. We're still at least 5 miles away. This is really an awesome sight!

We arrive at the Cross complex. Surrounding the cross, are little vignettes of the story of Christ's death, burial and resurrection. The bronze (I think) statues are incredibly detailed and nearly life size. Actually, for the time period, this may have been life size...seems I've read somewhere how much bigger folks are now?

In this picture you can see dd trying to stand up against a terrible, bone-chilling wind. You can see a big storm coming in the distance. We hurried to get as many pictures as we could before the storm hit. My hands were frozen just taking the first few pictures. My sweet dh, dressed like an Eskimo with gloves and all took the camera and tried to hurry the process so we could get back in the truck!
These statues are amazingly detailed. You really should click on this picture to blow it up and look at the detail. The protective covering the soldier has over his jaw is sooo detailed you can even see the little tie at the bottom! His sandals had amazing details, too!


This picture gives new meaning to standing at the 'foot of the cross.'





Here we are in the EMPTY tomb! Praise God! Jesus is alive!!! (We were happy to be out of the chilling wind!)



This website has much better pictures of this wonderful place. http://www.crossministries.net/ Check them out, they are absolutely beautiful!




We're back in the car...glad to be warm again! We're sad that we didn't get to spend more time at the Cross because of the storm...but we're so glad we took the time to stop. This is a good picture of dd, I didn't really need to put this in...but she's just so cute!

After we left Groom, TX, we took a smaller road heading towards Dallas. We really enjoyed seeing some of the real Texas towns. We were also VERY glad to see real trees! Now, its starting to feel more like home and we are pushing hard to really be home in the morning.

Well, we drove allllllll night Wednesday. The rain started about dark and didn't let up until nearly daylight on Thursday morning. We made it to Baton Rouge, LA about 11:30 pm (our time). By this time, dh was starting to get tired. He had been driving since 8 this morning. The rest of the night and early morning hours was spent battling fatigue. We would drive for an hour/stop for an hour and so on. I even got to drive for a couple of hours! By 5:30 am, we were finally back in Florida and VERY happy to see the sunrise about 7am! For some reason, its easier to stay awake in the daylight.

We arrived at our last fuel stop (the Flying J in Midway, FL) about 10 am. After fueling, we hung out in the parking lot for a few minutes looking for out-of-state car tags. Trying to find a few we missed on the trip. Throughout our trip we had been watching tags. We saw tags from 36 states, 1 from Alberta, Canada and 1 from British Columbia, Canada!

This picture shows us with Alfie. We're are READY to be home!




Here is dh with our friend and neighbor, Steve. He was the one who sent us on this crazy adventure and he was soooo excited to see his new car! (We did mention to Steve that we would like to go to Wyoming next time!) We unloaded this precious cargo and headed up the road to our house.

Finally, we're home. We've driven 4,895.2 miles since pulling out of our driveway almost exactly 150 hours ago. That means we averaged about 32.63 miles per hour (even when we were sleeping!! LOL!!) Whew! What an adventure, what fun, what a wonderful time for our family! Now, we're going to take a nice nap...

Back to the Travel-Log...Ho Hum....

After all the comments from my recent humiliation (I can't believe the comment from my dd about "Dad deserves a trophy!" Hey! What about ME???? Oops, I digress...), I hesitate to go back to the Travel thread...but remember...these are for posterity--to help us remember happy and joyful times. So I must conclude writing about the biggest trip we've ever taken as a family. Try to imagine me poring through over 1,000 pictures trying to find the best (sometimes most interesting) pictures to write about. This is HARD!!!

Being west of the Mississippi was such a new thing to us, my dd went a little crazy taking pictures. Thank the Lord for digital cameras. I can't imagine having to come home and develop this many pictures--no matter how good they are! The wonderful thing about digitals is that it is fairly easy just to ditch the fuzzy ones and keep good and decent ones on a disk to be able to go back to once in a blue moon.

So where were we? Hmmmm....seems to me we just left Flagstaff, AZ on our way home. Let's see what pictures I can come up with today.

The next few pictures are just interesting rock formations.


Remember, if you want to see them bigger--just LEFT click on them. Use the 'Back' arrow to come back to the blog.

These were somewhere in either Arizona or New Mexico. These western vista's are kind of blurring for me now.






Remember, I said before, "if you don't like these rocks...wait 5 minutes and you'll see a totally different kind!"











We were getting close to the Petrified Forest National Park in eastern Arizona. There was a lot of petrified wood left out in fields next to the interstate. This looks like a log cut up...I don't know if it breaks off like that on its own, or whether it was broken up. Google it and let me know!









This silly scene was taken as we drove through one of the Indian Reservations. As you ride through, there are many of these dinosaurs living beside the interstate.








FYI: Out west, there is almost ALWAYS a train track paralleling the interstate. I guess they only want to cut one pass through the mountains. My dh loves airplanes, but he also loves trains! We counted over 40 trains on this ONE day! Although we live less than one mile from a train track, we've NEVER seen so many in one day!





Interesting little mesa's everywhere! Who but God could think of this? It reminded me of building sandcastles at the beach. Just dump some sand out, smooth off the top! Go to the next one.







Just outside Winslow, AZ there is a meteor crater we elected not to visit. We looked at it on GoogleEarth instead. We probably got our money's worth!

Somewhere in here we stopped in Winslow, Arizona. Remember the song "Take it Easy" by the Eagles? I guess I'm dating myself...but I loved the Eagles. "Standing on a corner in Winslow, Arizona such a fine sight to see. It's a girl, my Lord, in a flat-bed Ford slowing down to take a look at me." We heard on the radio we could go downtown and get our picture taken with the girl in the flat-bed Ford, but we decided to forgo that delight and ate at McDonald's instead. By this time the car cover over Alfie was in tatters and shreds. My dh decided it would be better without it, so he cut off all the duct tape holding the pieces together! We would just have to be careful where we parked.

This is one of those Five Star resorts I talked about in an earlier blog. These are usually in the middle of nowhere with rusted old cars outside. This particular one, looks like they moved to the back-forty in a camper.







The Painted Cliffs in E. Arizona near the New Mexico border. Once again, these pictures don't do justice to the beauty of God's creation!

































Coming into Albuquerque, NM from the west you come down this long hill that overlooks the city. It looks pretty cool from a distance.








Now you can see the city spread out in the valley.












It seemed that everything in the city of Albuquerque was tan, cream, dark tan, dark creme, or tan. Did I say tan? Once in a while you would see streaks of aqua (like on some of the overpasses). Once again, I wouldn't think they would want me on their tourist board. I was highly unimpressed. I'm sure they have places worth seeing (the mountains around the city were beautiful!) but we didn't have time to stop and explore.

We're headed for Amarillo, TX to spend the night. Hopefully, it will be before morning...like the George Strait song (Amarillo By Morning).

More tomorrow....Stay tuned!

To Florida...We Must -- Part 3

We were sorry to leave the Grand Canyon...but we must keep heading towards home. We'll come back some day and spend more time exploring! It's still Tuesday, February 19, 2008. We've got a lot of ground to cover today. We want to stay in Amarillo, TX tonight.


So now we're heading towards Flagstaff, AZ on a beautiful scenic backroad (180). It was indeed scenic. Our necks were getting sore from all of the swiveling --trying to look everywhere at once!








The snow across the countryside was so beautiful! There were little snow "people" everywhere.









Would love to have this pretty sight out my window each morning! This is Humphrey's Peak which is 12, 643 ft. above sea level. It is the highest point in Arizona. The road went as high as 8,046 ft. It was absolutely beautiful. As we came down the mountain towards Flagstaff, we went past the Arizona Snowbowl which is a huge ski area.






This is a house in Flagstaff with the snow all piled up in the front. This doesn't look as enticing to me as the countryside covered with snow.

Flagstaff was a nice little town. I expected it to be bigger. We stopped to fuel up and the people seemed very nice. Maybe this would be a good place to live in the summer-- maybe live in Florida during the winters?




Back on the Interstate with Humphrey's behind us now. Since this was taken out the back window, you can see the Alfie on the trailer behind us. Notice the car cover is torn on the left side...this was just the first little place.




Don't have time to post more today...maybe I really can make this trip last a whole month! Actually, only two more days of real 'scenic' places. More tomorrow!

Ahhh....The Grand Canyon

This morning we left our motel (and Tex) about 5:30 am Arizona time. We stopped just up the street at a 24-hr Denny's...but alas, they weren't open because they had done a "deep cleaning" overnight. But they assured us they would be open in just a few minutes. Sure enough they seated us within 10 minutes, but our waitress stayed on break pretty much the whole time she "waited" on us. Apparently, she was just "waiting" for us to leave! How dare we make her DO something? Oh well, the food was good (even if she spit in it!).

After a warm meal, we headed north towards the Grand Canyon. It took dd a little bit to realize we were making this side trip. When she figured it out she was sooo excited. We were too! About 7am local time we stopped to fuel up. This is what we saw....

These gorgeous colors only lasted a few minutes. It was so beautiful it ALMOST made me want to get up early every day to see the sunrise! Almost.

We arrived at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon (or the Big Ditch) about 8am (local time). We passed a bunch of buses heading away from the canyon. Apparently, these were the 'sunrise' tours.

We all had seen pictures of this place. But NOTHING can prepare you for the vast beauty of this canyon. What an awesome site God left for us to enjoy!






AWESOME!










We were freezing!!! After this picture (taken by an innocent bystander) we all ran back to the truck to get warmer coats.















At each 'overlook' site, they had a phone number posted to call for information. When you called, it was like a tour guide telling you all the information about what you could see from where you were standing. It was very interesting except when they kept saying how many millions and millions of years this took to form.

Looking across to the North Rim -- 10 miles away! Doesn't seem like 10 miles.







The snow was so beautiful and sparkled in the morning sun.











It isn't really hard for us to believe this was caused by Noah's flood. We've seen what our road looks like after a hard rain--this is just our road on a bigger scale! It's amazing to see the damage water can do in just a few minutes.










Loved this particular view with the rock caught in the hole.












A little bit more perspective.















These formations remind me of building a castle in the sand at the beach and drizzling wet sand on the top for decoration.










These deer were just casually standing and eating beside the road. The cars didn't bother them one bit!













Out for an early morning jog!










If you know my dh at all...you know he's an airplane buff! We had to stop at the Grand Canyon Valle Airport to check out this plane. This is a Lockheed Constellation. It was the first mass production inter-continental airplane. Apparently, this was a big deal in its day! Dh had seen pictures of this type plane, but had never seen the real thing! What a treat!

We (me and dd) were also thrilled to stop and watch helicopters taking off for tours. Wow! The excitement was intense!

Join me tomorrow as we head to Flagstaff, AZ and enjoy the beautiful snowy scenes on the way!

To Florida...We Must --Part 2

So we're on our way home from California...[see earlier posts]...It's still Monday, February 18, 2008. My dh and dd have finished climbing rocks and we're back on the road. While we were stopped, dd picked some tiny little wildflowers. All of a sudden she realized there were a hundred tiny bugs crawling all over her --coming off the flowers. Eeeek!!! Bugs and wildflowers were quickly put in the wind. Here is a wonderful life lesson; don't pick the wildflowers!!! It was also a lesson in how there is truly 'life' in the desolate desert.

5:45 pm...we're close to the Arizona State Line. We come into Needles, CA. This is another "famous" place according to the internet. We're excited to get off the interstate and check it out! Small population of only about 4,800..on the famous Route 66...chronicled in the "Never Been to Spain" song by Three Dog Night...referred to in movies...etc.

From Wikipedia:
In the comic strip Peanuts, created by Charles Schulz who lived in Needles, California as a boy, often cartooned Snoopy's brother Spike living in the desert outside Needles. He frequently heads to Needles to partake of the town's nightlife, often running afoul of the local coyotes. Charles Schultz attended D Street School in Needles as a child, in a previous building on the same site as the current building at the top of D Street hill. This school, renamed Katie Hohstadt Elementary after a popular primary teacher of the 1970s and 1980s (grades 1 and 2 only now), is located at 600 Cibola Street.

There were other 'pop culture' things about Needles...but let me tell you, they would not want to hire me for their Chamber of Commerce! We stopped at a Shell gas station which also had a Dairy Queen sign on it. We were thinking..."Wahoo! Ice Cream!" I went in to check on whether their diesel was the right kind (no sticker on the pump) and to see if it was a possible potty stop. Eewwwww! Nasty! We looked around a little more and got back on the interstate. We were not impressed. Here is a picture of the most interesting thing we saw in Needles....the Colorado River. This is where the train crosses the river. Finally, we're out of California.

Our next hope for stopping would be Kingman, Arizona. In Kingman, we found another Dairy Queen. It was kind of strange because it was in a strip mall. But it was fairly clean, the ice cream was wonderful and CHEAP!!! Hot fudge sundae's DO make a wonderful dinner!

By 8:00 pm it was starting to get dark and we started looking for a place to rest for the night. The scenery was starting to get prettier with a bit of snow here and there -- so we didn't want to drive through it in the dark. We pulled off the interstate in Ash Fork, AZ which was on a stretch of Route 66. Unfortunately, the one semi-decent motel in town looked like it was built in the late 50's and we weren't too sure about the safety of the Alfie on the trailer....so we pushed on to Williams, AZ.


In Williams, we found a wonderful motel with snow EVERYWHERE! My dh barely got the truck stopped before dd was out playing in the snow in her flip-flops!

A little fun throwing snow at her dad perked her right up after a long day of riding across the rocky desert!








It also didn't take long for dd to get luggage in the room, change into warmer clothes, and head out to build a snowman just outside our room. This is Tex. (notice her brand-new leather hat perched on wet snow?) She and her dad had a great time playing in the snow during the commercials of "Dancing with the Stars!

We noticed that Williams, AZ has a lot of touristy things available for families including a train ride through some really beautiful countryside. Too bad we don't have time to dawdle. Since Williams is also located just 50 miles from the south rim of the Grand Canyon, Mom and Dad were secretly planning a side-trip to head that way in the morning. We think dd will be quite pleased.

More tomorrow! I think I might be able to string this out for another 15-20 posts! Not that I would really do that...but I could! Stay tuned...

California or Bust - Part 3

So here we are in Sunny California (truly, sunny!). We left the car seller's home in Vista, CA in search of food. We were not going to be picky! Even though our bodies were into Sunday afternoon...we had to remember it was still Sunday 'morning' to folks here. So as we were driving through Oceanside, CA we started looking for restaurants. Now remember, we're not just site-seeing in a car -- we're driving a huge truck and pulling an expensive car on a trailer...so our options are somewhat limited!

Here are some pictures of the scenery as we drove around...

We pulled into a couple of good prospective eateries...but since it was brunch time in CA, there were long lines. Finally, we spotted a trusted friend...McDonalds! Wahoo! Next to this fine establishment was a perfect parking lot for our 'rig'. We went in and ordered breakfast. Let me tell you, those were the absolutely best hotcakes and sausage I have ever tasted in my life! We were so amazed that Mickey D's could have such gourmet food...of course the fact that we were starving may have had something to do with it!

After filling our tummies, we are now off to search for a decent motel to spend the rest of the afternoon and night. We are looking for a place that is reasonably priced, has a good television (to watch the race), and a big, safe parking place for our precious cargo. Yes, our friend was paying our expenses --but we were trying to be frugal in spite of his generosity.

At one point we had to stop and adjust the cover on the car. It had started flapping fairly soon after leaving Vista.

Driving south from Oceanside, the view reminded us very much of S. Florida with the 'trendy' stores, lots of 'beach' shops, etc.

Finally, we found an appropriate motel in Carlsbad, CA. It was a decent place, with a place to park our rig right outside our room, and only about 6 blocks to the ocean. We were there so early (CA time) they weren't checking anyone in yet. My dh told them that was fine, we would just be sleeping in the truck in the parking lot until they were ready. She took pity on him at that point and quickly found us a room that was ready!

As we were moving our luggage to the room, dh was talking to a local police officer asking about how safe the area was. The officer told him not to worry, since there was a big bar right down the street they were in the area quite a bit, so the car would be fine. Hmmmm...that didn't really make us feel warm and cozy! Another thing the officer told him was that we shouldn't miss the sunset on the Pacific. He suggested that since we were so close, it would be easier to walk since parking would be a problem.

So we moved into our room and settled in for a relaxing afternoon watching the Daytona 500! Needless to say, we didn't actually SEE much of the race (after being up for about 30 hours without sleep...). We did 'hear' a lot of it and we were wide awake for the last 25 laps or so.

As sundown approached, we decided to walk down to the beach. We wanted to be able to at least say "We've dipped our toes in the Pacific." The walk was really nice....very touristy...probably what you would see in a S. Florida beach community with the exception of the hills. It was quite hilly and there were skateboarders everywhere!

On our walk we saw some very unique buildings like the one here. This beautiful old home is now a swanky restaurant. Can you imagine actually LIVING in a place like this?

Me and dh dipping our toes in the super chilly Pacific!

Here is dd who did NOT want to go on this trip, having a blast playing in the ocean!

Wayne and Becky

Word to the wise: After dipping toes in chilly ocean water in February, toes get really, really cold. One solution is to dip them in something else....

So....we had a little time on our hands waiting for the sunset.....

I would not say this is the prettiest beach I have ever seen. I'm sure there are nicer beaches in California, but these here can't even be compared to our beautiful Florida beaches. At least we can all say "We've been there!"

There were some homes that made an effort towards beautification...this is February, remember! Green grass -- blooming flowers?

Finally, the sunset we've been waiting for. It was a sunset...it was okay...the clouds kind of hampered seeing the sun.

We start the trek home tomorrow!